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Baccarat Hotel and Residences - 20 W53rd St -

So two weeks ago it was announced that Starwood and Tribeca Associates would develop a ~260,000 SF, $400M mixed-use building. For comparison, the mixed-use Cassa cost $90M to build and is 143,465 Sq. Ft. The Cassa's site is much smaller though.

The previous proposal by Orient-Express Hotels called for a $220M, 11-story building that connected to the 21 Club behind. I expect the development rights from the 21 Club to be part of this project.

Greenwich, CT-based Starwood Capital and New York-based Tribeca Associates have agreed to purchase the site of the former Donnell Library on West 53rd Street in Midtown Manhattan. The buyers plan to build a $400 million hotel/ condominium/library at the location across from the Museum of Modern Art. In 2007, Orient-Express Hotels agreed to purchase the site from the New York Public Library for $59 million. The recession, however, interfered with that plan. Paul White, president and CEO of Bermuda-based Orient-Express, explained that economic circumstances kept the firm from following though on their initial agreement.

A decision by Orient-Express Hotels Ltd. to back out of its plans to buy the former Donnell Library building in Midtown Manhattan is likely to deprive the New York Public Library of millions it was counting on. The sum was to help jump-start a $250 million renovation of its central library on Fifth Avenue at 42nd Street.

Orient-Express said on Monday that it wanted to revisit the $59 million agreement because of the global financial crisis and a shortage of credit for construction and real estate development. The Donnell, a five-story building on West 53rd Street, was to be razed to make way for an 11-story hotel, with the library on the first floor and underground.

The hotel conglomerate said in a statement that it was seeking to “defer or restructure” that project.

The company’s move is likely to stoke anxiety among cultural organizations with outstanding commitments vital to major capital projects. Many are already reeling from a steep decline in donations and revenue as a result of the economic downturn.

Leaders of such groups say they are watching the situation warily. “Given the state of the economy, it’s a risk that everyone runs,” said Reynold Levy, president of Lincoln Center, which is currently undergoing a major overhaul of its campus.

Mr. Levy added that so far Lincoln Center had not had “a single corporation reduce or defer payment” on its rebuilding effort.

The $59 million sale of the Donnell was to go toward a major renovation by the British architect Norman Foster that would transform the main library on Fifth Avenue into a circulating library. It had received a $7 million deposit from Orient-Express on the Donnell project, according to a person involved in the deal, who requested anonymity because the terms of the deal are confidential; other details remain undisclosed.

The New York Public Library said through a spokesman that it planned to study various options to get Orient Express to honor its commitment. It declined to comment further, citing possible litigation.

Legal experts say the library might have no recourse but to seek damages but suggested that it was unlikely to recover the full $59 million purchase price.

“To require somebody to go through with something, you have to establish how you are damaged,” said Allan G. Sperling, a corporate lawyer at Cleary Gottlieb in New York. For the library, those damages would involve factoring in how much the Donnell site had diminished in value since Orient-Express agreed to buy it in November 2007. What is more, the library has yet to sell its Mid-Manhattan branch, on the east side of Fifth Avenue at 40th Street, whose circulating collection is to be absorbed into the main library across the street. Proceeds from that sale were also to go toward the Foster renovation.

Given the dire state of the economy, however, the library may have to compromise. “What is happening quite frequently now is the parties are getting together and renegotiating the agreement,” Mr. Sperling said. “It’s in everyone’s interest to do that, because legal fees are expensive.”

Paul LeClerc, president of the library, and Catherine Marron, its chairwoman, declined to comment. And Melanie Brandman, a spokeswoman for Orient-Express, said the company had no further comment.

The Orient-Express decision stirred speculation about whether the Wall Street financier Stephen A. Schwarzman would make good on a $100 million pledge to the library announced in March 2008, given recent setbacks for his company, the Blackstone Group. But Peter Rose, a Blackstone spokesman, said on Tuesday that Mr. Schwarzman’s gift was “still going ahead,” unchanged.

The central library renovation is part of a far broader $1.2 billion plan to update the entire system by improving branches, bolstering the endowment and creating two new libraries, in Upper Manhattan and on Staten Island.

When the Orient-Express deal to buy the Donnell, a highly trafficked and popular branch, was announced in 2007, some found the project an uncomfortable conflation of art and commerce. But the library system said it had little choice in relocating the Donnell within the proposed hotel because the branch, built in 1955, was in dire need of renovations that it could ill afford.

The project was to contain 150 hotel rooms costing $750 to $2,000 a night and a restaurant on the top floor. Five floors were to connect to the “21” Club on West 52nd Street, also owned by Orient-Express. Construction was originally scheduled to begin this year and to be completed by early 2011.

Development Challenge Process is pending Zoning Approval. For any issues, please contact the relevant borough office.

The Schedule A indicates a much narrower tower, with Floors 4-12 a Hotel with 15 rooms per floor and Floors 14-45 holding Apartments with 2 per floor. Also indicated is a 2-story base with setback: A "Roof Terrace" is shown atop Floor 2.

The planned towers in this area are like trees reaching for sunlight, but in this case for a view of Central Park.
At 610 feet, it'll be taller than Museum Tower which is home to many of the nimby's who protested Torre Verre. The tower would impede the tower's SE views.